Soon we will all forget about this oil spill...

After all the dust has settled after this incident is done wreaking its havoc, we will all forget about this oil spill. ATS history has already proven
this strange phenomenon with two topics that created - but not anymore - very heated debates. The two topics that I am referring two are, of course,
9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.

After these two events, many threads were created - so many, in fact, that new forums had to be born in order to make them more manageable. These two
forums, during the time after their respected events, were very "hot," and threads did not cease to be brought into creation within them. The
threads went on for multiple pages, and ATSers loved to discuss in these two forums. I remember reading about these two topics, and thinking to
myself, "This will never get old - there will always be something new and interesting to think about."

Now, however, about 9 years after 9/11 and 5 years after Hurricane Katrina, these two forums are, to say it in the nicest way, dead. The 9/11
Conspiracy Theories forum is not buzzing with as much intensity as during its heyday, and the Katrina Conspiracy Speculation forum has - during the
time of this thread being created - not received a post in 21 days, which is a very long time for ATS. Also, the Katrina forum only has 733 threads in
total - again, a very small number. These two forums do not even make it onto the "HOTTEST FORUMS" list, which shows the "forums with the most new
threads in the past five days." What does this say about these two topics? Did we, as ATSers, forget about them?

Presently, though, we have a brand new topic to discuss - the BP oil spill. This topic, of course, like 9/11 and Katrina, had its own forum created
for it, which is on the top of the "HOTTEST FORUMS" list. Take a look at the recent posts everyday, and you'll see that this topic is the topic to
discuss right now.

I wonder, though, how long until we forget about this topic? When will the Deepwater Disaster forum not make it onto the "HOTTEST FORUMS" list?
Perhaps it's because the spill is ongoing that this topic is burning with such vehemence right now. Or maybe it's just because Americans - or humans
in general - love to complain.

I believe that BP - or whoever else - does not even have to pay for the damages done in order for this topic to not be "hot" anymore. Think about
it, the real perpetrators of 9/11 - as the 9/11 conspiracy believers would have us believe - were not brought to justice, but the topic is dead. The
same goes for Katrina - the people who were responsible for helping the victims of the hurricane were not held responsible for their inaction, and yet
the topic is now dead.

In short, I am not exactly sure when or even why, but I am sure, however, that this oil spill topic will one day most certainly be a non-issue for us
all. Enjoy riding the oily wave of complaining and bickering while you can because you will not complain indefinitely, I guarantee it!

Actually, we will all be talking about the dead Gulf and the Ghost towns along the coast in future threads and the leak will become a tourist
attraction that will still be gushing years into our future.

Meanwhile all domestic oil production will cease in this country and we will be paying 6.50/gallon for gas.

hopefully it kinda blows over with all the rest of the conspiricies and disasters, i have been watching ats for a year or so now and at the moment so
far ive read at least 6-7 doomsday oil spill theories and a whole lot of bumph, all oil spill based, i can barely find anything besides it......i dont
wish to belittle it but be real thr are lots of things going on. ats needs to confine the oil spill to its own board or something so we cn see things
seperate from it....

I have a feeling (if the past is any indication of the future) that you are correct. We will move on to the next "big" thing and leave the oil spill
disaster to live on in the lives of those directly affected. The "rest" of us will glom onto whatever the media tells us is the new, big story...
Not only is it to the advantage of the media to do so (must achieve ratings) but because of that bias, the people have grown accustomed to short
attention spans. We will always be looking for what's coming next...

Originally posted by they see ALL
After all the dust has settled after this incident is done wreaking its havoc, we will all forget about this oil spill. ATS history has already proven
this strange phenomenon with two topics that created - but not anymore - very heated debates. The two topics that I am referring two are, of course,
9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.

Also interesting to note that Global Meltdown threads have disappeared off the radar.

I give it another six weeks and this is forgotten about.
The first relief well will intersect in about one week, the holes will be concrete filled. About five weeks into the cleanup and we wont find it as
interesting as the leak was. Topic forgotten.

This sorta counts as and definately seems like it's going to feed Global Meltdown...it just has it's own folder now.

I don't call this one "distraction." Distraction is when they go off on dead blondes in some island or dead pop stars and call it news while people
are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere and oil is spewing into our oceans.

Originally posted by Just WonderingI give it another six weeks and this is forgotten about.
The first relief well will intersect in about one week, the holes will be concrete filled. About five weeks into the cleanup and we wont find it as
interesting as the leak was. Topic forgotten.

Really? You think? In one week the relief well will intersect the main well? Six weeks and it's dead?

I agree, but only because most here are feeding off of the emotional rush. When all of that [thankfully] dies down then it will be about the business
of learning the things that are needing to be learned for those interested.

I think you're right. And I think it speaks to something about us all that we might want to look at.

In the middle of a crisis, we get SO emotional and involved and our discussions are heated and sometimes angry... We pick a side and attack or defend
vehemently, as if our lives depended on it. Or as if we were actually making a difference somehow... It's weird. And then, sometime later, all that
energy is gone. Deflated.

It really makes me think about most of our communications. I mean, what's it all for?

I have a great time discussing the ATS LIVE radio show in the chat room on Saturday night, and I really feel like I get something from that, if only
to be fully engaged and entertained in a positive way. But all this side-taking and point-proving and position-defending we do...? I'm not sure what
it's all about in the scheme of things.

Originally posted by Just WonderingI give it another six weeks and this is forgotten about.
The first relief well will intersect in about one week, the holes will be concrete filled. About five weeks into the cleanup and we wont find it as
interesting as the leak was. Topic forgotten.

The long term effects of the oil continually washing up on the beaches and the accompanying destruction of wildlife and a coastal ecosystem will be
talked about for many years. How long do you think people will be talking about the eventual evacuations of some of the coastal towns?

I haven't forgotten about 911 and I'm not going to forget about this. In fact I have copied your post to prove you wrong in 6 weeks. Again

Maybe for those inland and on the west coast but the people effected by the oil will not ever forget.

The amount of destruction will be epic and will compare to no other disaster we have had in the history of the USA.

Apalachicola, Florida oysters are the best you can buy but I will probably never have them available for purchase as long as I live.

The price of all seafood is going to go sky high and we will have to buy Asian farm raised shrimp if we want shrimp.

Grown men who have always made their living off the sea will end their lives. Not all but many will. It's all they have ever done and they learned
it from their fathers who learned it from their fathers.

I've played in the ocean and salt water rivers all my life. It will be no fun swimming and boating in oily water.

Without a single doubt in my mind I can say "Hell no it won't be forgotten for generations.

More likely is it that this spill is going to be just a part of a much bigger problem.
The sooner a relation is made with something else the sooner it becomes a cause of and will only be a sign of the past.

I say this because it is just a sign of a bigger problem. A problem that we are both personal as well as a species responsible for. We must change our
ways and we will learn "accidents" like the oil spill will not happen anymore.

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